June 13, 2008

Free Press: Congrats and a poke in the eye

A body blow and a big step for freedom of the press. On one side, a judge dismissed The Spec's application to stop the OPP from seizing our pix. On the other, a new wave of truth tellers graduated to uphold the values of a free press. Last night I attended Convocation at Sheridan College where graduates from the first-ever Canadian Journalism for Internationally Trained Writers walked across
the stage and accepted their certificates. It was a first in Canadian history
and it was made possible with the support from The Spec's newsroom. The work accomplished here continues to set new
high standards in our industry.Two of
the graduates are here – Tazeen Rizvi and Fariba Sahraei.

On a different stage, an Ontario Superior Court of
Justice dismissed our case blocking the Ontario Provincial Police from seizing
photographs taken by Ted Brellisford and John Rennison. John and Ted took photos
of protesters at Caledonia in April and the police were granted a search warrant to access their published and unpublished
images.

We challenged the search warrant in
court and Brian Rogers this morning made several arguments about press freedom,
independence and concerns for the ability of our staff to report the news
fairly, accurately and safely.

Unfortunately Justice James Ramsay
dismissed our case. One of his quotes from court: "What's the big deal. Why don't you just help them (the OPP).

"What difference is it going to make if you give them a few dozen pictures? Why aren't you getting on board?"